All You Need To Know About Houston Digital Marketing
Part 3
PPC Advertising
Even though your company’s digital marketing strategy should be focusing on generating as much organic traffic as you can possibly get, it’s not wise to ignore how powerful pay-per-click ads can be. PPC ads mean paying ad publishers each time that a new lead actually clicks on an ad of yours. One of the most popular and successful kinds of PC ads is Google AdWords. These can get your business showing up not only on the first search engine results page but also over the organic listings.
You might be curious about why you would want to pay for ads when you’re currently trying to boost your website’s SEO. It’s a good question. The truth is that while SEO is essential, it can still take time for it to generate results. PPC ads can fill in during the meantime. PPC ads get you results much more quickly since your site is at the very top of any search results pages for related search terms. When you show up on the first page of relevant SERPs, your company gets more visibility, making it much more likely that searchers find and then click onto your website.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is just another component of digital marketing. Businesses put out branded emails in order to reach out to the core audience they want. Use marketing emails to spread the word about any special deals or promotions you have, build up your sector position, boost brand awareness, and promote any events you have coming up.
The specific content of any marketing emails you put out should be based on what your particular campaign goals are. The following are only several examples of the kinds of email marketing content that you might come up with as part of your digital marketing efforts:
Sending out welcome emails anytime you get new users who subscribe to your company’s marketing list. These should tell them what’s likely to happen through your brand emails.
Delivering promotional content. Put news and information about future discounts and sales right in the inboxes of those who might buy from you.
Developing a periodic newsletter. Deliver this to subscribers so they have the latest content and business updates about your company.
Emailing leads once they download any content from your company site. Thank them for any interest they show. Also, take advantage of this opportunity to suggest relevant content to them.
Recommendations about other content assets or products. These should be based on the buying and browsing patterns of your customers and leads.
Nurturing new leads that have shown interest. Many companies make the mistake of only trying to use email marketing for generating new leads, but it works far more effectively in following up with those that look even remotely interested as well as handling customer retention.
As with all the other techniques already listed earlier, email marketing isn’t used just by itself. Yes, you could make a monthly newsletter for promoting specials via email, but email marketing is also something you can use to support other techniques, be it social media or content marketing.
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Why Do Business Owners Need A Houston Social Media Marketing Today
Part 2
Marketing Strategy – Social Media
Like traditional marketing, your social media also need to have a strategy. Jumping in without having the right strategy and plan in place can be as damaging as having no plan at all. Feel free to use our social media marketing strategy checklist to add to your online digital marketing strategy.
When it comes to social marketing, a strategic approach is focused on the creation and distribution of relevant and valuable content on a consistent basis. It helps in attracting and then, retaining a well-defined audience base.
You need to have clear goals. For instance, whether you want to use social media marketing for enhancing customer loyalty or for other purposes.
You need to be clear about the target audience. The use of demographics is a good start but you need to dig deeper with the help of psycho-graphics.
Form of Social Media – Decide on the type of digital media that will maximize your connection with your target audience. It could be in the form of video, podcast, blog, and other such things.
Strategy for Specific Social Network – There are countless networks and not every network (even those with more than 100 million active users) is worth your time. So, choose a network that adds a lot of value to your business and keep your focus on it.
Keep Testing – Clearly define your goals. It will help you in measuring the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. Try different things and engage with the targeted audience in order to figure out things that work and things that don’t.
Social Media Marketing Benefits
Many of you reading this blog post might have already identified the lack of a social media marketing service as the missing link to connect with your customers. Business owners who are still on the edge about investing in social media marketing, here are a few facts to help you realize why you need to invest in social media marketing now.
Brand Awareness – Social media marketing can be immensely helpful in increasing your brand awareness. In fact, 78% of small businesses already make use of various social media platforms to get new customers. Also, 33% of customers use social media to discover new brands for the products and services they want.
Brand Validation – Brand validation is the need of the hour today as there are thousands of brands selling the same products. When you have an active presence on social media, it tells consumers that your brand is active and is willing to positively communicate with customers. 63% of potential customers who go online to find businesses are more likely to patronize a business with an engaging presence on social media.
Customer Loyalty – You can use social media to enhance customer loyalty. In fact, you can use social media to convert your existing customers into vocal proponents of your brand. 71% of customers who get a quick response from a business on a social media channel are more likely to recommend that particular brand to others.
Call Us To Get Started With Your Social Media Marketing Plan Today
Do you have a social media marketing strategy? If you do not have one or you want to understand how to measure the returns on your social media investment, contact us or call us today for immediate assistance on growing your business. Visit our blog for more related articles. Click here for article two.
Why Do Business Owners Need A Houston Social Media Marketing Today
Part 1
In today’s digital business landscape, social media has emerged as one of the most effective marketing opportunities. If you are still wondering about the importance of social media marketing, let us help you understand how our online marketing and social media marketing services will help you stay on the top. We realize the importance of social media and this is why, we offer a completely free and downloadable white paper on this topic including the benefits of social media for your business, contents of this blog, some content tips as well as a complete strategy guide on social media.
Social Media – What & Why
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of social media, let us define marketing. Simply put, marketing is the process of creating and communicating messages that your customers value.
The goal of social media marketing is to establish a brand and enhance its visibility through direct communication with potential customers in order to build and establish long-lasting relationships.
If you are still wondering about the importance of social media, you should know that in today’s time, social media networks remain one of the fastest-growing industries in the whole world. You might have read that quite a few times as everything related to Internet marketing gets hyped these days.
Keep in mind that social media is projected to grow at an annual rate of 25% over the next 5 years which means you need to begin today in case you have not started already.
Social Networking Sites
The Internet marketing industry is continuously growing and this has also led to continuous growth in the numbers and reach of various social networking sites. All these sites have their own characteristics and goals. Here are a few examples of the most well-known social media networks.
There is no denying the fact that Facebook remains the biggest and most powerful social network with a monthly active user base of more than 1.55 billion. Whether it is a Fortune 500 company or a start-up, everyone needs to be on Facebook to engage with existing as well as potential customers.
Another well-known social media platform is Twitter. It is popular as the most “in the moment” network. In terms of numbers, there are 255 million active monthly users on Twitter. It is an excellent digital marketing tool for businesses looking to reach out to customers and to engage them. The key to being successful on Twitter is to be quick and smart.
Another highly popular network is Instagram which is more of a visual platform. Users on Instagram like to engage by commenting, sharing, and posting. A picture represents more than just words.
When it comes to professional social networking platforms, LinkedIn is the leader. Its main focus is on B2B marketing.
Some other popular social network platforms include Pinterest, YouTube as well as Google+. There is also Snapchat which has grown tremendously over the past few years and currently boasts of more than 6 billion views on a daily basis.
What do you think about these social networking platforms? Let us know if there are any other sites where you connect with consumers and share your digital media.
Contact us or call us today for immediate assistance on growing your business! Click here for article two.
The Importance Of Houston Lead Generation For Your Business
Part 2
Google has made the entire process of getting your business in front of customers much easier than ever before. Through the use of Google, you are able to directly target warm leads and prospective customers looking for your respective solutions are guided to your site. It’s truly a win-win scenario.
Thus, whenever a prospective customer looks for something they need and they get funneled into your website, your chances of converting them into an actual customer go through the roof. After all, they are looking for what you are selling. As you can see, having a quality and properly funneled lead generation process can make it much easier to convert traffic into paying customers.
Important Strategies For Lead Generation
1. Content Marketing
As the saying goes, “Content is King.” The fact is, the content has been and will continue to be where a lot of the ‘real money’ is made on the Internet. High-quality content will always do best at converting traffic into leads and leads into customers. Content marketing can effectively target and attract the right audience and it can demonstrate your value. It can make it much easier for your entire sales team to sell to a prospective customer by giving them ‘warmer’ leads that already have proven their interest in what you are selling.
2. Social Media Marketing
Social media is quickly becoming the go-to for marketers. It is very easy to use and it has the ability to help you attract the ideal customer to your business. It has become one of the largest hubs for connecting businesses with consumers.
3. Hiring A Specialist
Hiring a lead generation specialist is one of the best things you can do for your business. It will help you get the expert advice you need to take your lead generation efforts to the next level. They will know what needs to be done to optimize your efforts.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is another important strategy. This is the process of optimizing your website to get it ranking higher within the organic search engine results for respective keywords. By targeting ‘buying keywords,’ you will be able to maximize the number of quality leads you are able to get funneled to your website organically. Meaning, you won’t have to pay a dime for them.
As you can see, there are plenty of strategies that should be put in place to maximize your lead generation efforts. There are more including pay-per-click advertising, web development, and even re-marketing. The market is constantly changing. Because algorithms are in a constant state of flux, you will want to have someone on board that knows the in’s and out’s of online lead management. Any company that doesn’t recognize the importance of establishing lead generation in their marketing mix risks falling behind their competition in a big way.
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The Importance Of Houston Lead Generation For Your Business
Part 1
One of the most highly discussed topics in the marketing world is lead generation; for good reason. You might be wondering what lead generation is and why it matters. Knowing the right techniques to use to generate leads can dictate your success. In this blog post, you will learn all of this and more.
No matter whether you are talking about a brand new startup or a multi-million dollar company, proper lead generation is a prerequisite for success in all of them. Without lead generation, a business would cease to gain new customers. Because of this, it is the lifeline of any business. It is the true engine of a business that keeps everything churning. So, what exactly is lead generation? First, let’s go over what a lead is.
What’s A Lead?
A lead can literally be any person who has expressed interest in something you are offering whether it be a product, service, or both. A lead can be gained through a variety of different sources whether it be through a paid advertisement, word of mouth, and even a phone call in certain instances. Digital Marketing Solutions that effectively funnel traffic to a website, improve search engine rankings, and increase referrals from the web to a whopping 93 percent of leads.
What Exactly Is Online Lead Generation?
Online lead generation is arguably the most important component of an effective online marketing mix. It refers to developing interest in a prospective customer by offering them input on whatever it is you are selling. Thus, in an essence, it is developing interest in your products and/or services to the point where it gets them to take action and visit your website, provide you with contact information, or even contact you directly.
Lead generation is the very early stage of turning traffic into a prospective customer and eventually converting them into actual customers. Thus, having properly tuned lead generation strategies in your business is pertinent to make sales and sustain any type of growth within your business.
Why Is It Essential?
A lot of salespeople are running out of ideas on how to tap into new markets of people to sell products and services. This can cause a clog in your business operations that needs to be cleansed. While you can practically never reach the saturation point in a marketplace, salespeople need leads driven to them to do what they do best. By leveraging online lead generation strategies, businesses are able to funnel ready-and-willing prospective customers to their salespeople to close the deal.
A lot of businesses in today’s marketplace are very dependent on lead generation efforts because it can turn a website into a funnel for their sales team. By leveraging websites as lead generation tools, it can increase the number of warm leads that can be turned into customers. This can maximize conversion rates for business and allow the profits to increase by default.
Call us or contact Found Me Online today if you need help with promoting your business online to achieve business growth. Feel free to visit our blog for more related articles! Please click here for article two.
Good Benefits That Can Be Realized Through Houston Online Marketing
What are the advantages of running a comprehensive online marketing strategy?
1. More Clients
There are few chances that a customer can learn of your business if you have no online presence. This can include having a website, social media platforms, review sites, or search engines. Simply put, online platforms are now inseparable when it comes to building a client base. This applies to all businesses.
You can be guaranteed that online marketing will be great for your business. You can drive more traffic to your business.
2. Better Online Visibility
Your business can be easily found when you employ online marketing tactics. These include search engine optimization (SEO). The services or products of your business can be seen by customers online. People tend to drift towards the options that appear first in their search results page. People will more likely check out your products or services as you gain visibility online. They can interact with you and make purchases.
3. Better Local Presence
Google uses the IP addresses of its users to provide local search results for services or products. This happens when consumers search for keywords online. Through proper online marketing tactics, you can place your business at a better place for Google to expose it to people in your locality. Remember, they are more likely to become your customers as compared to people living thousands of miles away. The completion of your Google My Business profile is the easiest way to improve your local presence.
4. Increased Authority
The way your customers perceive your business is important. Online marketing isn’t all about bettering your visibility. You can define the perception that you want your business to have through your online marketing tactics. For instance, the credibility of your business is significantly boosted when your business has high rankings in search engine results pages. You’ll find yourself ranking alongside other respected industry authorities. In other words, better rankings are a step closer to becoming a go-to provider and industry or local authority.
5. Better Quality Of Traffic To Your Website
Targeting is involved in marketing practices such as paid advertising, local media marketing, and local SEO. This refers to going for a more precise group of people who are more likely to have an interest in the products or services that you offer.
High-quality traffic can be drawn to your business if you use such targeted efforts on your website. You’ll likely generate more sales and engagements when you employ these tactics. Broader efforts that aren’t tailored don’t speak to any particular audience.
6. In-Person Visitors
You’ll notice more visits to your physical store when you start speaking to your audience directly. You need to focus on the people who are more likely to become your customers. An increase in in-store visits ultimately translates to sales.
7. Lasting Relationships
Your small business is generally kept afloat by the sales generated from marketing. However, that’s not all there is to online marketing. A long-term impact can be created through online marketing. Relationships can be built here.
You can get lots of return customers by building relationships with your customers. Loyalty to your brand is built through this. Your business will also get referrals from your loyal clients. This translates to more sales and loyal clients. There are lots of benefits that businesses are now realizing they can reap from this never-ending cycle.
In reality, you may fit the description. You probably are a client of several businesses. Online marketing tactics have been used on you without you even noticing!
Knowing The Online Marketing Strategies
By taking a step back to see the prevalence of online marketing in our own daily lives, we can appreciate its importance. It may come as a surprise to realize the number of times marketing campaigns are being run on your feed every day. Take into account some common practices that you’ve noticed been applied, whether or not you were aware at the time.
When was the last time you used your favorite search engine to look for something? Were you looking for a particular business, a product or service, or even information? Regardless, SEO or search engine optimization is what you need to thank in case you found what you were looking for. Search engines such as Google are able to give you the most relevant results through this online marketing practice. In the past, you may even have ended up making a purchase!
2. Social Media Marketing
You probably follow brands that you love on social media. And even if you don’t, you may have engaged with such accounts for a while after stumbling upon them. Whether or not you interact with these brands regularly, you still get exposed to their marketing efforts. You must recall seeing a post or an ad about a popular product or an upcoming sale. In other words, you can interact with the products or services of your favorite brand through social media marketing.
3. Content Marketing
There would be nothing on the internet if there wasn’t content. However, that’s not the case today. Billions of pieces have filled this space. They exist in various forms including written content. These pieces are part of the content marketing strategy of someone on the net even when the content’s totally informational. You may think that you are simply being offered useful content. However, marketing to the businesses producing these content is also done.
You must be starting to comprehend the dynamics involved in online marketing…and how well it works on all of us.
No Longer Need To Shy Away From Online Marketing
You won’t achieve anything positive by avoiding to use digital marketing strategies for your business. Why not give it a shot and see its advantages? You wouldn’t be stretching too much since you may already be unknowingly using various digital marketing methods. For instance, this would be the case for your business if you set up a website. You need to take advantage of strategies that you may already be using. By doing this, your small business may enjoy better results.
Tips To Create An Optimized Content For SEO In Houston
Effective content marketing is at the heart of today’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is the engine that power SEO. And just as wheels will not turn without an engine, similarly, no optimization campaign will work without quality content. It means that the SEO strategies will only be a toothless dog that is all bark but no bite.
The two cannot do without each other. Google holds quality content with high regard stating that it plays a significant role in organic searches. But what is the mean of all this?
Quality content may be necessary for effective optimization, but search engines do not have a checklist for what constitutes the kind of “high-quality content” that they advocate for, and most likely never will. As such, it is up to the online marketers to mine Google Analytics and scour search results to fish out the factors and elements that define what it takes to generate and churn out high-quality content for SEO purposes. Below is a quick guide on how to create such kind of content.
Step 1: Optimize Your Content Strategy
In most cases, many marketers will wait until the end of their content curation process before bringing in SEO for promotional purposes. They will review what they created so that they can determine the best keywords to use and links to add.
The correct approach for generating effective content that will drive your marketing campaign is first to figure out the best keywords to use based on online users’ interests. That means you need to understand the queries they use for searches and the kind of information they seek. It is only then that you can create the right type of material that will offer answers to the questions they have. In short, you will curate content that is a solution for them; thus, it can help move your audience through the funnel.
Step 2: Design Good Content
If you manage to keep your target users engaged, then it means that they are consuming your content. Therefore, that implies that they are interacting and sharing your material. Such an achievement these calls for designing good content right from the get-go.
In as much as there are many opinions as to what constitutes quality content, below are the primary elements that are worth observing:
• Relevant
• Clear, Coherent, Concise
• Practical
• Unexpected
• Educational
• Concrete
• Emotional
• Trustworthy, Credible, Valid
• Inspiring
• Entertaining
• Thorough
• Novel (Unique)
Step 3: Create Correct Content
Regarding the user experience in as far as content is concerned, a typo or grammar error can be an unsettling thing. It may not be an issue that may feature in the list of things that influence ranking, but it is something to take seriously when it comes to concerns of user experience.
In the same spirit, the linking and citing sources you choose should be from leading authorities so that they help demonstrate to search engines that your material is relevant and trendy.
Step 4: Check Your Keyword Usage
Once you have figured out the ideal keywords to use based on user intent research, your next step is the placement of the keywords. But your primary objective is how you will use them in the content you intend to create. While at it, avoid keyword stuffing. Google deemed such a move as an ineffective tactic, but does not render the keywords as ‘dead.’ It only implies that they should be implements with SEO in mind.
The 10 Best Ways To Utilize Houston Digital Marketing
In a modern society filled with electronics, it is not surprising that more and more people spend time in front of screens. And when you think about it, how many people do you know that don’t permanently carry a smartphone with them? The truth is that digital marketing has become the most effective and affordable way to reach potential clients. But digital marketing is just an umbrella term because you have several options available to you.
If you want to get the best results from digital marketing, it is recommended to mix things up. Do not just put all your effort into a single channel when there are so many. Besides, do you honestly think your competition will limit themselves? No, they won’t.
So, here are the 10 best ways to utilize digital marketing for your online business.
1. Search Engine Optimization
Also referred to as SEO, search engine optimization tends to be the starting point for all online business owners. And this is based on the dominance search engines have when it comes to the internet. Most users trust platforms like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to bring them the most relevant websites. This also means your website is subject to the requirements set by these platforms. More specifically, you have to optimize your website to increase visibility and increase your ranking. The good news is that search engines do not charge you anything to get to the top of search results (SERPs), and organic traffic has the best odds of converting.
2. Search Engine Marketing
When you read or talk about SEM, it refers to search engine marketing. This is when you focus more intently on the search engines and the advertising space they offer. And the great part about this option is the instant top spot you get with relevant search results. Instead of optimizing your site, you worry about optimizing your ads. However, SEM typically involves PPC (Pay-Per-Click).
3. Social Media Marketing
Whether you like it or not, social media has only grown more powerful over the years. And now, it is part of daily life for millions across the globe. Hence the reason why you should be working on a good social media marketing campaign. Keep in mind that social media also expanded to include things like news updates, so users have more than one reason to log in. If you want to see your online business grow, make social media part of your strategy.
4. Content Marketing
Content marketing is yet another powerful way to give your business the edge. It is based on writing specific content that speaks to a specific market. You don’t want to be too aggressive here. Instead, keep the call-to-actions gentle and make sure the quality of the content is good. It is very important that users find the content useful and informative. Otherwise, it will not be as effective.
5. Email Marketing
One of the best ways to retain customers and keep them coming back is through email marketing. This gives you direct access to each one, but you have to use this information wisely. For example, do not send emails every five minutes. And when you do send them, make sure people WANT to open them, instead of tagging your business as spam. At the same time, it can help to bring in new clients if they sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your site. When you have an email address, you have a chance to make it work for you.
6. Online Advertising
If you don’t mind spending some money, online advertising through different publishers can be just what you need. These ads can come in the shape of banners, pop-ups, and even as text banners on platforms like Google AdSense. But if you want to make the most of the campaign, keep it targeted and focus. Don’t waste money on users that are not likely to support your business.
7. Landing Page Marketing
Landing pages should be a fundamental part of your campaign. Not only do they work well with other strategies, but they are critical for turning leads into conversions. Of course, the homepage of a website could be a perfect landing page. But it’s usually better to create a specific page users go to when you need to close the sale. Then you can bring more focus to the product or service too. Whereas a homepage might be too general.
8. Smartphone Marketing
As mentioned earlier, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone that does not own a smartphone. Now consider that text messages had a global open average rate of 94% in 2018, as well as the growing popularity of useful apps. Add to this the fact that people always have their phones with them. All this information points to one thing – focusing on mobile users. You will lose out if you don’t.
9. Affiliate Marketing
As you are reading this, there are many affiliate marketers, looking for the next best opportunity. Will you be the one giving it to them? Because if you can get the right affiliate marketers on your side, there is no telling where the exposure might stop. For one, affiliate marketers only pay attention to promoting other products. In return, they get a share of the profit. And considering that these marketers can have extensive contacts and knowledge, they can serve a very powerful purpose. To make it even better, you do not have to make any upfront payments.
10. Viral Marketing
Just to avoid any confusion, a viral post is one that gains a lot of attention really fast. This is because the post is trendy, it grabs attention, and people can’t stop sharing it. More importantly, a viral post can bring significant exposure to your online business. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or a video on YouTube, you should never underestimate the power of a viral post. But if you want to create one, it requires some research. You have to know what users are looking for.
In Summary
Of course, the article makes digital marketing sound very easy. The reality is that you need advanced tactics if you want to gain the edge for your online business. That means taking the digital marketing options mentioned, and possibly consulting with a professional in the area.
You know that it is important to reach out to prospective followers on various social media marketing platforms. However, which ones should you use?
What other questions do you have swirling around in your head – those that are causing a delay in you getting started with a digital media marketing plan that could be potentially very successful.
Give Yourself A Break
This is great for many industries to start planning for 2019. Everyone wants to have a fantastic year, right?
Questions you should consider before you begin:
Who is my target audience?
Where can I find my target audience?
Which digital media platforms should I use?
Why are Social and Digital always mentioned in the same sentence?
What are the potential social media and digital marketing platforms?
Let’s start with the basics. Where are all of your personal contacts and family having conversations about the businesses in your local area? Wherever that is – that is an excellent starting point. Depending on what kind of business you own, the “guaranteed activity” will really dictate where your marketing efforts can be taken. Begin with something you know that you can get somebody to share or comment on your post.
Facebook Marketing Platform
Begin with Facebook – You are on Facebook, right? If you aren’t, then get a Facebook page. You are missing out on a lot of fun. Seriously, Facebook is most likely the easiest one to start out with. Get a business page created – that can take some time since you may need to run some information down and picture to get going on it.
A Facebook business page is easy to get set up – just click on Create A Page when you are logged in on your personal account. These two types of accounts only overlap when you actually want them to. You can toggle between your new business page and yourself fairly easily right on the profile photo above any comment that you want to make.
After you get your business page set up, what should you say? Just ask yourself if you were your own client, what would you want to know? You might need directions to your retail store or office. That is a very good start. You can say something like, “come visit us and say hello at *** Road, Houston, TX. You could maybe offer a service or product review on something you are selling or offering. It is that simple.
Until you have a couple of followers, you won’t be able to obtain a custom name for your Facebook page (custom URL). Facebook sometimes requires 15 or 30 followers. You could get a great post created, make sure you check your grammar and spelling, create or find a great image for promoting your page, and then spend a bit of money for your post to be boosted.
Find out more by visiting our blog. Call or contact Found Me Online today if you have any immediate questions about starting your Houston digital marketing campaign!
